


Inner Layers

by aprettyboy



Category: Free!
Genre: Cute, F/M, Fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-21
Updated: 2018-09-09
Packaged: 2019-06-30 19:23:29
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,729
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15758112
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/aprettyboy/pseuds/aprettyboy
Summary: I just thought it would be cute to write this pair!





	1. Chapter 1

“Goooouuuu!”, A high pitched voice was heard in the distance and put Gou on alert. Gou heard it and did as she always did,”quick Ayumu hide!”,she said as she preceded to drag Ayumu behind the bushes. This was only standard procedure. The guy had been at it for almost a whole year. There’s now way that wouldn’t be deemed creepy right? 

 

Gou shushed Ayuma as the voice got closer. She closed her eyes, hoping Momo would go away soon.

 

“Huh? I thought I saw her. Oh well.”, he said as his head and eyes checked everywhere near his line of sight. He shrugged and then jogged back to his friends who were clearly confused as to why Momo ran off in the first place. 

 

Once he left, Gou let out a sigh and almost fell back to the ground,”that was a close call. Why do we always seem to run into each other. I need to ask the Gods what I did to deserve this. It’s like he’s everywhere or he has clones. Ah, That must be it, clones.”

 

“um..Gou...who was that..”,Ayumu asked nervously. The whole situation was still very unclear to her and it only got more confusing as she listened to Gou rant about whoever that guy was. Maybe it was an ex, she presumed, judging by how scared Gou seemed to be. 

 

“Oh, Ayumu im sorry! You must have been so confused,”Gou said as she clasped her hands together and apologized. Ayumu only chuckled in response,”its okay, im sure you had your reasons.” “well..”, started Gou,”long story short he’s been interested in me for about a year and he swims on Samezuka. Ever since then I’ve just avoided him at all costs, he wreaks of trouble.”

 

“So you hate him?”, questioned Ayumu. Gou waved one hand innocently,”ah no no, its not that, he’s just..how do you say this nicely...annoying?” She really couldn’t find a euphemism for the word at that point but she didn’t want to come off as too rude. It’s not like she hated him but she wouldn’t consider them so much as friends, regardless of how well the guy knew her brother. 

 

On one hand, she could tell Rin but...it wasn’t harmless. He didn’t have Gou’s number and he only talked to her when he would randomly be in the same places as she was. However, it wasn’t a big town, so of course it was mere coincidence on the occasions they did meet. If he pursued her further, she would tell her brother, but the guy was just some harmless idiot who happened to fall in love with Gou...or whatever he called his infatuation with her. 

 

“I feel bad for the poor guy. I think I’d be hurt if the guy I liked constantly avoided, he’s very persistent though, I wonder how he can’t tell you’re uncomfortable, maybe love really makes you that blind,”Ayumu suggested. Gou pouted,”Ayumu are you trying to take his side here?”

 

“Oh no, im just looking at it from both sides, maybe you should give him a chance, you don’t think he’s the slightest bit cute. Knowing you, I’m sure you’ve checked out his muscles, how do they rank?”,Ayumu asked with a smile.

“Well...his muscles are nice but..”,Gou spoke, trying to find a reason to dislike the boy,”he does have a high ranking on the Samezuka team especially his back but-”

 

Ayumu giggled,”Gou maybe you’re unconsciously running away from your feelings.” This new take on the whole situation made Gou blush,”n-no way! I would know if I did, I don’t see him that way he’s just some guy on a swimteam that my brother used to be on. He has this weird obsession with stag beetles and once he even gifted it to me as a present! Who does that?”

 

This only made Ayumu laugh,”stag beetle? That’s kind of cute, at least it shows that he’s thinking about you enough to get you a present, even if it is a stag beetle. I’m sure he had you in mind when he caught it.”

 

Gou stood up and stood up, dusting herself off,”then he would know that I’m afraid of insects” Ayumu countered back,”how would he know if you never gave him a chance to find that out” Gou furrowed her brows,”Ayumu he didn’t put you up to this did he? You make me seem like the perpetrator instead of the victim.” 

 

Ayumu stood up as well as she explained,”im just saying you should give him a chance, if it goes horribly, then you have more than enough reason to avoid him, but he seems like a nice guy.”

 

Gou sighed,”fine fine, maybe just once, you’ve made me feel guilty all of a sudden.” 

 

Ayumu apologized,”sorry Gou”, but was squished as Gou hugged her,”Ayumu its no fair, I can’t get mad at such a cute face. I’ll follow your advice.” She hugged Gou back with a smile,”no problem.”

 

“Okay, now lets go shopping!”, she said as she stepped out the bushes, Ayumu following alongside her. It was nearing winter and the two of them wanted to pick out some warm clothing to replace their old ones. So, they came to the local mall to check out a variety of shops. 

* * *

 

“Hmmm, where to first, maybe we should just go in order”, Gou said as she looked around at all the shops. 

 

They entered the first clothing shop nearest to them.

 

“Ohhh, all these clothes are cute, I can’t wait to try them on!”,Gou said as her hand moved through an arrangement of sweaters. “Yes, I can’t wait as well”, replied Ayumu. 

 

The two of them tried on a bunch of clothes but only came out with one or two, they didn’t want to get too much before they checked out the other stores.

“Do you want to get a drink or something Ayumu? Theres a smoothie place over there”, Gou asked. 

 

Ayumu smiled with a nod,”Im quite parched.”

 

“Okay, lets go”, Gou said and started to walk towards the smoothie place.

 

As she walked over there, she stopped Ayumu, placing her hand in front of Ayumu’s chest.

 

“He’s there, no way.”,Gou said, her pupils dilated as she looked at orange head of hair. 

 

“I thought you were going to give him a shot?”, Ayumu asked.

 

“I didn’t think it would be this soon! Ahhh, Ayumu I can’t, he’s...his level of excitement is like 100 percent and I’m at 60 percent, its too much.”,Gou said, trying to find a way out of it.

 

Ayumu laughed,”but you love Nagisa don’t you, Nagisa usually always at 100 percent” Gou was at a complete loss, why did Ayumu always have to find a way to refute her argument?

 

Gou sighed,”I guess theres no way out of this, huh?” 

 

Ayumu,”I truly don’t think he’s such a bad guy. You say its been a year. I’m sure he respects your boundaries and doesn’t want to impose on you too much unless you give him the go ahead to. If it was the opposite, he may have been pestering nonstop.”

 

“That is true...at least if anything goes bad you’ll be there for me Ayumu,” Gou said. Ayumu nodded her head,”of course, I’ll do my best to protect you.” 

 

“Okay, lets do this”, Gou turned around, getting ready to walk towards him, but he had already spotted her. Instead of freaking out like she usually did, Gou put up her hand and waved with a smile.

 

“Gouuuu!”,Momo went chasing after her as soon as he saw her face. He stopped right in front of her, looking at her with sparkling eyes. Gou could swear she saw a tail wagging behind and ears on his head. “Um, Hi momo”, Gou responded.

 

“Oh! You remember me? Im so happy I saw you today, I thought I did but I lost you. It must be fate!”, he said with enthusiasm. 

 

“Well you are on Samezuka, I know almost everyone on that team”, Gou responded. 

 

“Say say, we keep running into each other but you always manage to slip away before I can ask for your number”,Momo said.

 

Gou thought to herself as Momo spoke. Of course she slipped away, but she was here now. She didn’t want to go back to Ayumu with nothing so she went and pulled her phone out of her purse. “Here, just type it in,” Gou said as she unlocked it and handed it to him.

 

Momo took the phone,”really? Im so happy, I’ll send you a message now!” He handed Gou back the phone and got his out. When he opened the message, he stared at it as if he had just struck gold,”Gou number’s, this is a dream come true,” he hugged the phone to his face,”Im so happy.”

 

“O-oh? You’re that happy?”, Gou asked. Why would he get so excited over a simple phone number?

 

Momo put his phone in his pocket,”because this mean hopefully I can become closer to Gou, and maybe I can show you more of my manly side, I want to show you the real me”,he blushed as he nervously chuckled, his hand placed behind his bed.

 

He turned back as he heard his friends call,”ah, Gou, I’ll talk to you later, bye-bye”, Momo said as he ran off, waving off Gou.

 

Gou smiled,”ah, bye Momo.” Once he was out of sight, she turned back and walked towards Ayumu who had been watching from a bench. 

 

“How did it go?”,Ayumu asked.

 

“well…”,Gou played with her fingers as she looked down,”maybe he’s a just a good guy..”

 

This made Ayumu excited,”what did he say!”

 

Gou looked up,”he said he wanted to show me more of his manly side...and I have his number now.”

 

Ayumu clapped her hands,”I bet he has a super cool side of him you haven’t seen.”

 

Maybe Gou had judged the cover a bit too much, but that was the only thing one could judge on, especially if they were too afraid to open the book, thinking they might not like its contents. When Momo mentioned his “manly” side, it just made Gou remember that he  _ was _ a man. Which, in turn, made her slightly more aware of him.

 

“Ah, my phone buzzed”, Gou said as she took out her phone.

 

Momo: [picture received]

 

Momo: look at me and my stag beetle!

Gou laughed,”Ayumu look, he looks so funny, its pinching his nose”

 

Ayumu looked at the picture and started to chuckle,”he’s funny.”

  
  


Maybe this wouldn’t be such a bad thing after all. 

* * *

 

“Oh my goddd theyre so cute!”,Gou said as she smiled down at her phone. She was in class with Ayumu. Class hadn’t started yet and there was something very cute occupying her attention. Gou flipped her phone around and showed it to Ayumu,”this otter is so cute, Momo has been sending me otters and I think I’ve fallen in love with them.” Ayumu’s eyes opened wide in shock at the fact but she couldn’t help but giggle at the whole situation.”It seems you and Momo are getting along quite well these days.”

 

Gou set her phone down and spoke,”I guess...its been good..”, she said with a nervous smile. Her answer made Ayumu light up more,”good as in you don’t see him as some weird guy anymore??” Gou wasn’t quite sure what she felt but,”he still acts like a child but...its cute I guess...in its own way.”, she looked down as she circled her finger on the desk,”maybe he asked me out..”

 

Ayumu clapped her hands,”Gou, that’s great, when is it happening?”

 

“Um, I think this weekend?”, she asked to herself. Her phone buzzed again and she instinctively looked at it, smiling at the picture,”oh my god its an otter in a costume, how cute” 

 

“Say, he sends you stuff like this alot? I think he really might be into you. What guy takes the time out of their day to spam someone with things they know they’ll enjoy? I’d even say he’s head over heels for you,” she said, her index finger in the air as she made her point. 

 

Gou’s cheeks turned warrm,”h-head over heels? Thats..no way…” Maybe it was because the whole thing was new to Gou. She had never been in a relationship before and she never sought one out. Admiring guys muscles was just enough for her. The fact that she was starting to feel the need to want the whole thing scared. She had never felt such a happy, yet fearful feeling, the fear that it could all be pulled apart in an instant.

 

If she delve deeper into why she was this way, it only had to be because of their father. One man for sure she knew she loved and he loved her just as much back, as he rightfully should. However, with Gou’s Father’s death, that type of bond scared of the most. Especially because your life could be happy one day and the next it was like the world sweeped the rug off of your feet, without any warning.

 

Before they could continue their conversation, class was beginning to start. Gou looked at her phone once again and smiled before she turned it off. _ Just give it a shot _ , she told herself. As class started off, Gou put her hands on her cheeks and started to daydream a bit. She tried to stay focused but her mind kept wandering off, thinking about Momo. 

 

Why did it have to be him? Some silly, over-excited boy, who loves stag beetles, and favorite food is apparently a triple cheeseburger? Would even be able to keep up with his pace on a date? 

 

Honestly, she couldn’t even believe she was worrying about all of this. Gou sighed. Oh well, there was only one way to trample on her feelings, it was to go on this date and really see just how incompatible they were. That should do it. These feelings were too much for Gou to deal with and she would rather place all her attention on the swimming club, not on some boy. 

 

These thoughts followed her throughout the day until school ended. She turned on her cellphone was again and watched as her phone buzzed from the notifications, one being a message from Momo that said,”hey! Does this saturday dinner sound good?” 

 

Gou bit her lip as she typed and gave him the okay. Deciding not to dwell on it any longer, she quickly shoved her phone in her pocket and headed off to swim practice. 


	2. New Love

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A/n: this is the last chap! if you want another just say so but as this ship isnt that popular I wont write unless, even one person may want something more, enjoy!

Gou was waiting outside the shopping center, her purse in her hands, leaning back down on a pillar. She was wearing a white dress with pink heels, a silver heart-shaped necklace around her neck. Her was also pulled back into a neat ponytail.It’s not as if she was looking forward to the date that she put effort into her outfit, but she always believed that she should look her best, no matter where she was. She checked her watch on her wrist and then put it down as she looked around in the crowd. 

 

She had arrived a bit earlier but it wasn’t too long that she had become impatient waiting for the other. Her mind was all filled with thoughts about what could happen on the date. It could terribly wrong or surprisingly great. A dinner and a movie date shouldn’t have complications, it was just plain and simple. They had also decided on a light romantic comedy, nothing too serious. 

 

As she thought about various things, she was surprised by a sudden tap on her shoulder. She turned around and saw Momo standing there with a smile,”Hi Gou, I hope I didn’t have you waiting too long.” 

 

Gou blinked a couple times out of shock,”a-ah no I only got here about ten minutes ago” This was the same Momo right? She had expected to be alerted by a loud call of her name, something that she was used to. Momo speaking to her in a lower tone than usual caught her off guard. Her prediction of the day were already off the mark. 

 

“The movie should start in about 30 minutes, we should go in and grab snacks, I already have the tickets,”he said with a wide smile, displaying the tickets in his hand. Gou simply nodded with a smile,”yes, lets.”

 

The two walked off and headed into the movie theater. They went and stood in line for snacks. “Is there anything you want, today is all on me, it is a date after all”,he suggested. Gou’s heart clenched a little at the word “date.” She knew it was a date, of course, but hearing him say it and act like a man really reiterated the fact that they were on one. Not just an outing with two friends, but a  _ date _ . 

 

“Just popcorn and a drink is fine”,Gou said with a smile. “Got it, we shouldn’t eat too much before dinner, did you sleep well today?”,Momo asked as they stepped one place up in the line. Gou smiled,”yes, I slept well. How about you?” 

 

They stepped in front again, almost nearing the counter. Momo answered,”it was good, although I woke up and my stag beetle got out again, he’s been getting smarter and stronger later, I woke up today and he was on my face! Then he pinched me on my nose,”Momo fake whined as he touched his nose, but it made Gou giggle,”maybe he just wanted to sleep with you.”

 

After talking to Momo for a while, Gou had actually become used to getting pictures of stag beetles. In no way did that mean that she would willingly pick one up but the pictures Momo took with them made her appreciate them more and didn’t instantly perceive them as bad. Picturing Momo’s face with what he described, it truly made her spirits brighten up and the tension that she felt was cut a little.

 

On the otherside of things, Momo was overjoyed that he got Gou to giggle. Even if he had seen her plenty of times, he was never able to gaze at something so beautiful up close. He knew he had an attraction to Gou for the longest time, but this only reaffirmed his feelings. That smile and that laugh was something that he wanted to treasure.

 

“I move when I sleep though, im afraid I might crush them,”Momo responded. Gou took it in and gave a reply,”you must really care a lot about them, huh? How did this obsession even start?”

 

Before Momo could answer, it was there turn to get their food. Momo ordered and carried all of their stuff in a tray,”ah, I think we’re in theater 14, oh! We should put butter on the popcorn first.” Gou grabbed the popcorn and spoke,”stay here, I’ll be go and do that real quick” She left off with a “thank you” from him and went to go pour some butter on it.

 

She happily filled it up on butter, a smile on her face. Perhaps the date wouldn’t be too bad, her mood was uplifted. Momo seemed different, a nice different, than she thought he would be. The conversation didn’t die,mostly because of Momo’s spontaneous topics, but she didn’t mind it all. 

* * *

The movie was nice. It featured a guy trying to find his lost childhood love but all he remembered was her first name. His quest led him to scenarios that were funny but got serious towards the end. Overall, it was a great movie. The two of them shared many laughs together.

 

When it finished, Momo had to take a large gulp of his drink before he spoke,”I didn’t think it would be that funny” Gou had her hand to her mouth, trying to recover from laughing,”neither did I, it was a pleasant surprise”

 

Momo stretched out and then spoke,”all that laughing made me hungry, should we go eat?” Gou agreed,”yes, that took a lot of energy out of my as well.” 

 

The two walked into a restaurant, Momo being a gentleman and holding the door open for Gou. They were escorted to a table and handed out the menus. Gou’s eyes went wide and she spoke,”I’ve never been to an italian place, I didn’t know this existed.” 

 

“I searched for this place but I figured since we always eat japanese food, why not switch it up a bit.”,Momo said. He looked at all the food items but almost everything seemed appealing. Gou did the same and the waiter came back before they could decide. 

 

“If I may recommend, since you two seem a bit unsure, we have our special couple spaghetti’s special, its very popular these days.”, the waiter suggested.

 

Before Gou could protest, Momo already smiled and placed his menu down,”then we’ll take that, is that fine Gou?” Gou looked at him and blushed,”a-ah yea thats fine.” They handed the waiter back the menu and ordered their respective drinks. 

 

It wasn’t that Gou felt uncomfortable but the fact that it was called the couple’s special. Well, it was a date, but they weren’t a couple just yet. Momo initiated conversation again,”Say Gou, I don’t really know a lot about you except that you’re pretty and Rin’s sister. What do you like to do?”

 

Gou face started to heat up a bit as she wondered if she should tell him about that hobby. People knew and she wasn’t afraid to admire muscles out in the blue, but for some reason she felt like she shouldn’t say it. Why would she even care about keeping up appearances with him?

 

Luckily, it wasn’t the only thing that she was interested in. “hmmm, I guess I would say anime? Im quite picky but theres some that have nice mu- animation style you know”, she did a short laugh, her mind taking on a whole other personality though. She was most definitely about to reveal that she had a weakness for anime that perfectly portrayed and outlined their muscles down to finest detail. 

 

Yea, no, that was a conversation for a different time, if there even was. 

 

Something clicked in Momo when he heard Gou mention anime. “Oh! I watch some stuff too, do you watch okono no kitsugi? The cool samurai one.”,Momo asked. Gou’s eyes lit up even more and she practically leaned across the table as she spoke,”yes the animation is very beautiful and the songs are pretty”

 

The pair talked about the anime and other various, so much so that they didn’t realize how much time had passed. They were still in the middle of a conversation when the waiter arrived with their food. 

 

“Woahhh, it smells delicious!”,Momo said, almost drooling as the waiter set the plate down. It was still hot and steaming, so it would be a couple minutes before they could eat anything, but that didn’t change the fact at how good it looked. Gou was impressed herself and she looked at the plate with wonder in her eyes,”can we really finish all this?”

“No worries, they have takeout boxes”,Momo responded. Gou smiled,”that’s good, I could bring some back for my mom, im sure she’d enjoy it.” 

 

Once the food was cooled down a bit, they dug in, Momo commenting on the first bite as soon as he gulped it down,”that is delicious.” Gou nodded her head with a smile to agree, still finishing chewing down her first bite. As soon as it was down she spoke,”that was actually good. I don’t have enough spaghetti to compare but this definitely tastes like it was made with love and care.”

 

As they took their time eating, Momo decided to interrogate a bit more. He asked her things like when her birthday was, her favorite food to eat, her favorite animal, etc. All while remembering to answer the same questions for himself, saving Gou the trouble of having to ask him. Of course, he was always happy to talk about himself. 

 

Once they got full, they called it quits for a bit and continued to talk.

 

“Thank you for today Gou, it was really fun hanging out with you, I hope we can do this again sometime, todays the happiest I’ve been all week-ah well no the fact that you text me makes me very happy as well too,” Momo was starting to get a bit flustered and at what he was saying. She didn’t expect him to be so excited about going on a date with her.

 

Then again, this was her first ever date, she never really knew what a normal date was like, so this was her standard as of now. To be honest, it wasn’t quite bad. Well, she enjoyed it more than she thought she would. 

 

Gou laughed,”Momo thank you, it was very fun today. And thank you for taking care of everything, please allow me to treat you next time.” Momo’s face started to go red,”n-next time? So you...would want to go again?” Gou smiled with a nod,”if you would like to.”

 

Momo raised one fist in the air,”Yahoo”, he said outloud, but not too loud to disturb the whole restaurant. For a second there, all Gou thought that the boy was cute. 

 

They paid for the food and headed out. Momo agreed to walk Gou home and the pair of them stayed silent for half of the way, taking in the scenery and everything. Gou didn’t mind, silence was nice every once in a while.

 

The reason Momo was so silent though was that he was contemplating whether or not he should hold Gou’s hand. He didn’t know if it would be welcomed or not which is why it was taking him this long to decide. His eyes kept glancing down until he finally convinced himself to just go for it.

 

He grabbed onto her hands as he spoke,”U-um, its getting pretty cold isn’t it?”, he said. His face was getting hotter despite the mention of the cold but he needed to say something to divert the awkwardness of it all. Gou felt his hand but didn’t feel a need to pull it away, instead holding it back as she spoke, getting embarrassed and flushed herself,”y-yea, it is. I can’t wait for the snow.”

 

The two of them walked hand in hand for a couple more minutes until Gou finally arrived at her house. 

 

She let go and turned around with a smile,”thank you for today” 

 

“N-no problem!”,Momo said, putting one hand behind his neck and standing up straight. Gou smiled at how obviously flustered he was and something stirred up in her out of the blue. Before she walked into her gate, she moved forward, placing her hands on Momo’s shoulders, and giving him a quick kiss on the cheek. 

 

She didn’t say anything but quickly ran inside and shut the gate, leaving Momo in shock. 

 

Gou ran back into her room and fell face first onto her bed as she realized what she did. Her heat was beating rapidly and at this point, with everything that happened that day, she may have got a little bit of a crush on Momo. She honestly never thought that this would happen or she was content being single for the while; however, you don’t know what you’re missing out on until you actually try it for yourself. This was definitely Gou’s predicament. 

 

Momo, on the other hand, stood frozen there for about a minute until he ended up skipping almost all the way back home, a happy smile on his face as the words,”Gou kissed me~”, sang over and over in his head. 

 

In that moment he definitely knew that he was in love and that he wasn’t going to give Gou up without a fight. 

**Author's Note:**

> catch me @shirhoegayne on twitter!


End file.
